Month: February 2012

My journey to Kimathi Location in Murang’a East district in Murang’a County was an epic. It was during the rainy season and the villagers were busy tending their farms and removing all the unwanted weeds in the fertile soils. The people were of good cheer and very friendly, they easily gave me directions to their chief’s homestead and even one offered to accompany me.

When I first met Chief Mary Wambui Maina I was impressed by her warm heartedness and welcoming cheer, very friendly and easy to talk to. It was no wonder the only woman chief in the Murang’a East District is a role model for the women in the district and in her country Kenya.

Chief Mary has being a chief for one year and no doubt she has accomplished a lot and brought many positive changes in her locality. Her journey to government leadership was far from easy. Born in the location over 40 years ago in Kimathi location her family struggled to get her through school and she had to drop out for one year in form three because of lack of school fees. But with determination and strong will she finished high school in 1986 and achieved 3rd division. However due to lack of school fees she was not able to further her studies due to financial constraints.

Just as Tommy Lasorda said that “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” Mary may have been down, but she was not out. For more than 10 years she involved herself with community projects and was an active community leader. She was consulted by the community for various issues. It was also in this period where she involved herself in women self-help groups and was their leader in that capacity.

In the year 1999 she applied for the position of sub-chief. She had confidence that with her vast experience in community leadership she would meet the government expectations. Mary Maina was appointed by the government to head the Rurii sub-location. At the time the Rurii people wondered whether a woman would manage the position. It was a first in the locality and Mary was determined to proof her detractors wrong. She says that self-confidence and determination that she could do it propelled her to the people of Rurii.

When she took over leadership her biggest challenge was widespread brewing of chang’aa (illicit brew). Together with a cooperative community she embarked on flashing out the activity by dismantling the brewing dens. Eventually the brewing of illicit brew became a thing of the past. With the success of curbing illicit brew, Chief Mary realized that unemployed youth who had been engaging in drunkenness were idle and desperate. She encouraged them and implored them to start a self-help group and engage in the sand harvesting business which is readily available in the locality.

With an impressive work record for 10 years, in the year 2010 she was appointed chief of Kimathi location, the only woman chief in Murang’a East District. She heads two sub-locations Rurii and Githuri. In addition to Chief Mary representing the government in Kimathi Location; Mary’s daily activities also include attending government meetings, advising women, farmers, parents, students, solving domestic disputes (which include inheritance wrangles, land disputes among others.

Mary believes whatever a man can do a woman can do even better. Women need to come out of their comfort zones and embrace leadership. Women need to know that they can be capable leaders not just because they are women but because they have to be self-assured that they can lead. Women should be validated and given opportunities to lead.

There is no position in life without its challenges. For Chief Mary for instance there are numerous orphans and vulnerable children in the location where the government is supporting them. There are also old people who are too weak to take care of themselves however the government has rolled out a plan to provide food and basic medical care for them.

Also, in terms of education the people of Kimathi have taken advantage of the free primary education. However, many still lack school fees and school necessities like school uniforms. Mary has mobilized the community and local churches whereby they organize for fundraising activities to support the bright students from poor families. They have being able to send many children to the universities which was rare a while back.

Chief Mary’s inspiring life assents Diane Mariechild wise words that“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform”. She affirms that when women validate themselves they will be proud of their jobs or whatever they do for a living. They should know that they can achieve whatever they set their eyes on and should not despise themselves; eventually they will see and enjoy the fruits of their hard work. Ultimately the society will have educated children, successful and fulfilled communities.

She is very thankful to her employer – Government of Kenya which has set a favorable atmosphere to work well and is very supportive of women leaders. She is also indebted to her supportive husband and two sons.

It was my first time to visit Ethiopia on 22nd January, 2012. I was eager to experience the most populous land locked country in the world. My first impression of Addis Ababa was beauty and warm loving people.

Beautiful scenery of distant mountains meets you as you drive from Bole International airport. The city has great warm weather during the day and it gets chilly at night. I was in the country for FK preparatory course training.

It was interesting to learn that Ethiopia is in year 2004! The country applies the Ethiopian calendar which is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar that is mainly used by many countries in the world.

As we embarked on the training i got to meet other FK participants from different countries. We were all excited about our FK exchange opportunities. The home coming participants were also present and they shared with the new participants on their experiences with FK exchange in former host countries. It was a valuable session as they shared with us both the good and the challenges that they went through in 2011.

Having attended training sessions for the first five days, during the weekend the organizers Eminence Group organized for us a tour to various historical sites in the city.

The first was Menelik II museum; the shrine is located on a hill overlooking the Addis Ababa city in the valley. The scenery was breath taking. We learnt of Ethiopia’s hero Emperor Menelik II’s courageous role in the battle Adwa that gave the country victory over the Italians hence they were never colonized. The Menelik II museum consists of the original palace where the emperor and his wife lived in the 19th century.

Our guide also enlightened us on the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church – which majority of the Ethiopians attend. Later in the afternoon we attended the Merkato – the biggest market in Africa. In this market there was everything and anything that anyone wanted to buy, from clothes, vegetables, livestock, vehicle spare parts name them all.

Ethiopia has a rich culture. It is evident in their tradional dressing, monuments, language which is mainly Amharic. The main local food is injera which is made of teff flour. Injera is eaten with spiced beef stew. Their weddings are also flamboyant with dances and traditional music. I was also shocked to know that raw meat is a delicacy for the Ethiopians!

The night life in Addis is vibrant. There are many night clubs that are frequented by the youth and young at heart revelers. Some clubs play hip hop, rap, rock and other western music. On the other hand there were those clubs that played Ethiopian music and served coffee instead of alcoholic drinks.

As the training concluded the deputy director FK Norway – Grete Thingelstand told us that the FK experience will give us an ‘extreme makeover’. That some of us will develop a bigger heart while for some we will develop a totally different mindset from what we had. Through these experiences we will be good change agents. She concluded with a quote from Nelson Mandela “a different world cannot be changed by indifferent people”

What i gained from the preparatory course in Addis Ababa was informative, educative and eye opening. I made lots of friends and realized that we’re all working towards the same goal and collectively real change will take place. And i concur with Grete Thingelstand that we will always remember the year we were on FK exchange.